National advisers are assigned one advisee. Advisers serve two roles, as a career coach, with special emphasis on development of the scholar’s quality improvement portfolio, and as an external reviewer for the scholar’s academic project. Each scholar has an identified mentor at their home institution, so national advisers are NOT expected to take on the time-consuming role of a primary mentor.

The adviser’s role requires commitment of approximately 6-12 hours per year. National advisers are encouraged to meet in person with the scholar at PAS to discuss their projects. We encourage national advisers to meet with the scholar 3-6 times a year, generally by phone.

National advisers and mentors have different roles in the QSIS.

Although these roles often overlap, we make this distinction to minimize the burden on both mentors and advisers.

While mentors are focused on helping the scholars with their scholarly projects, the main role of the national adviser is career counseling. Advisers are expected to supplement, not duplicate, the effort of the scholar’s self-selected primary local mentor

National Adviser responsibilities:

Between PAS meetings:

Communicate every month or two with scholar

At PAS meetings:

Meet with assigned scholars face to face at the PAS meeting to discuss CVs, project, and overall career goals. If unable to attend PAS, give scholar the choice of meeting by phone or at a different conference.

Attend QSIS session at PAS on Friday, May 4th in Toronto, Canada, if possible

If you are interested in becoming a QSIS national adviser please click here.